Texas Unpaid Overtime Attorney
Unpaid Overtime
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law which requires that most employees who work more than 40 hours in a week receive overtime pay.
Very often, employers do not pay workers overtime even if they are entitled to it.
NOTE: Please click the button below for information on Unpaid Oilfield Workers (an industry with an extremely high amount of violations for neglecting to pay lawfully due overtime wages).
Types of Workers Who Benefit Most
From a Texas Unpaid Overtime Attorney
SALARIED EMPLOYEES
Many people believe that if you are paid a salary, you are not entitled to overtime. In fact, many salaried employees are entitled to overtime pay, even if they have a job title such as “managers,” “office managers,” “administrative assistant,” or the like.
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS
Employers often try to avoid paying overtime by making a worker an “Independent Contractor”. Simply being a contract worker does not mean that you are not entitled to overtime pay. If you have agreed to be a contract worker or 1099 employee, you may still be entitled to overtime pay.
HOURLY EMPLOYEES
If an employer requires an hourly employee to work “off-the-clock,” such as pre-shift work preparing for the workday (e.g. starting the computer, reading e-mails, preparing tools or equipment), work during an unpaid lunch period, post-shift work closing out the workday (e.g. finalizing paperwork, sending reports), or work from home, then the employee may be entitled to overtime pay for that time worked.
DAY RATE EMPLOYEES
Many employers will pay workers a day rate which is a set amount paid each day regardless of how many hours are worked that day. However, just because an employee or a 1099 worker is paid a day rate doesn’t mean they are not entitled to overtime if they work more than forty hours in a week. Many day rate workers are entitled to overtime pay.
If you believe you are owed unpaid overtime as an employee or independent contractor in Texas, contact David Langenfeld, an experienced Texas unpaid overtime attorney. David fights to recover what you’re lawfully owed and additional damages for individual clients and large groups of employees.
Common Victims a Texas Unpaid Overtime Attorney Can Help
Among the employees we represent are:
- Oilfield workers
- Nurses and other healthcare workers
- Paralegals and legal assistants
- Oil and gas workers, oilfield workers, and field service technicians
- Call center or customer service employees
- Cable installers
- Loan officers, loan consultants, loan processors, and mortgage industry employees
- Repair technicians
- Retail store employees
- Computer and IT employees
- Janitors
- Waiters, waitresses and other tipped employees
- Construction workers
- Accounting personnel
- Secretaries, payroll clerks, and general admin personnel
- Independent contractors or contract workers
- Interns
If your Texas employer owes you backpay for the overtime you worked, contact David Langenfeld, a trusted Texas unpaid overtime attorney, to get your hard-earned money for you.
Common Ways Texas Employers Cheat Workers out of Overtime Wages
Making Automatic Time Deductions for Meal Breaks – Texas employers will sometimes deduct 30 minutes or more from an employee’s time each shift for meal breaks. This is very common for healthcare workers such as LVNs, CNAs, and hourly-paid RNs. However, these workers are seldom allowed to take an uninterrupted meal break. When this occurs, the employer has committed wage theft.
Paying Workers a Day Rate Without Paying Overtime – This is common with oilfield workers. Paying a day rate is not necessarily illegal. However, many day rate workers are entitled to overtime pay in addition to their day rate if they work more than 40 hours in a week. Texas employers often fail to track hours of work and end up cheating workers out of unpaid overtime to which they are legally entitled.
Failing to Pay Travel Time – Very often Texas workers are denied wages for an employee’s travel time. Not all travel time is compensable. However, it often is and employers commit wage theft when they fail to pay. For example, home health workers are often paid a set amount per visit without any additional compensation for the time travelled from one patient’s home to the next. When this happens, the worker could be denied wages they have actually earned.
Misclassifying Salaried Employees as Exempt – Employers like to pay Texas employees a salary because they think that allows them to deny overtime pay to their employees. In fact, the law requires employers to pay overtime to salaried employees unless they perform very specific duties. Many salaried Texas employees are entitled to the unpaid overtime their employers illegally denied them.
Misclassifying Workers as Independent Contractors – Texas employers will often classify a worker as an “Independent Contractor” or “1099 Employee” to illegally deny them benefits and overtime pay. In fact, many so-called Independent Contractors actually meet the legal definition of “employee” and are legally entitled to overtime pay. This is true even if the worker has agreed to work as an Independent Contractor or 1099 worker. This type of misclassification results in unpaid overtime and is another form of wage theft.
Withholding Tips and Illegal Tip Pools – Restaurant workers and other tipped employees are frequently the victims of wage theft. It is illegal for Texas owners, employers, or managers to keep tips for themselves. The tips belong to the employees. Employees can be required to participate in a tip pool so long as they are not required to share tips with non-tipped employees such as cooks and dishwashers.
Requiring Employees to Work Off-The-Clock – Requiring Texas nurses to chart before or after their shift or requiring other types of workers to perform work off-the-clock is a common form of wage theft that leads to unpaid overtime. For example, requiring call center workers to boot up their computers and access a work queue or check emails to prepare for their shift, or requiring restaurant workers to mop or clean after their shift ends is a form of wage theft.
If your Texas employer failed to pay your overtime wages, contact a Texas unpaid overtime attorney to see if you have a lawful case against them.
Provisions for Claims That a Texas Unpaid Overtime Attorney Can Help With
The law automatically allows recovery for two years preceding the date the lawsuit was filed and forward that can be extended to a three-year period for willful violations.
Under the law, when a company is found to be in violations of overtime wage laws, they are generally required to pay the employee double the amount of back overtime wages as a penalty for violating the law.
Also, when a lawsuit is successful, the violating companies are often required to pay your Texas unpaid overtime attorney’s fees and costs in addition to the penalties.
YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN UNPAID WAGES even if you no longer work for that employer. Also, the law makes it illegal for any employer to retaliate against an employee who demands their fair pay under the law. Judges enforcing these laws come down hard on employers who retaliate against employees.
If your employer does retaliate against you, you could recover even more money.
A Texas Unpaid Overtime Attorney Who Will Fight for What You’re Owed
David Langenfeld is an experienced and aggressive Texas unpaid overtime attorney who only represents employees, never employers. He will fight to get you what you are owed from your employer. Contact David today for a free consultation.